Author Topic: Join me in a dry January  (Read 20684 times)

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #50 on: January 09, 2016, 02:25:00 PM »
Nine days in now. This is now the longest I've gone without booze since travelling through predominantly Muslim countries in 2011.

And like Public Hermit, the quality of my sleep has definitely improved.

The urge to drink has been totally manageable, much better than I expected. Mostly it's just reminding myself not do, and drinking something else (water, water, water) instead.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #51 on: January 09, 2016, 04:00:19 PM »
Hosted a boardgames night last night and didn't even feel tempted to drink (not even at the start which is the weakest point of a social event for me, when people are just meeting each other and it's a bit awkward).

Interestingly almost no one else had a drink, and I think the most anyone had was two beers - the host sets the tone for drinking more than I had realised.

bittheory

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #52 on: January 11, 2016, 07:30:28 AM »
OP here. First update since I started this thing. Overall, not bad. Having done this before, I know that the first week is probably the easiest for me, for the same reason the first week is easiest for gym-going resolutionists.

The week was a piece of cake. I don't drink much during weekdays anyway, so I had that built in advantage and mindset. Then the weekend came, which threw out temptation that was easy to turn down. I went to a happy hour with co-workers on Friday, ordered two club sodas with lime. Surprisingly easy to be the only one not drinking. Also nice to save the $12 that everyone else spent. Stayed in Saturday night and turned down an opportunity to watch a movie with friends and get drinks afterwards. Went over to family's house last night for dinner and turned down a nice bottle of red. Also, surprisingly easy.

I'm sleeping so much better now than usual and feel physically great. Even two glasses of wine left me a little groggy at times. It's great not to have that sensation at all. But this early on, the effects aren't really compounding yet, but I hope and imagine by week four I'll have lost a little weight in addition to feeling physically better.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2016, 11:20:25 AM by bittheory »

rockstache

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #53 on: January 11, 2016, 08:29:43 AM »
I haven't noticed any difference really. Once or twice I have though about grabbing a drink, but it didn't bother me to just get a water. Hopefully the calorie thing makes a difference as I am trying to lose weight. I plan to stay dry through the first week of February because I missed the first week of January. After that, I'll probably try to keep drinking limited to special occasions.

purplepear

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #54 on: January 11, 2016, 10:08:12 AM »
I keep having dreams that I drink a beer and break my sober-streak! Then I wake up disappointed in myself... until I realized that it was just a dream and I'm still awesome.

I have stress dreams about everything though (even missing little appointments or movie dates with friends), so it doesn't surprise me that I'd have stress dreams about giving up alcohol.

I'm also hoping to save some calories and slim down during sober month as well... but I've definitely replaced a few beers with hot chocolate. Oops :-P

Philociraptor

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #55 on: January 11, 2016, 10:27:45 AM »
Jan 1 weight: 184.4 lbs
Jan 11 weight: 176.5 lbs

I know the reduction in alcohol is just a small part of it, but it certainly looks nice on my tracking charts.

NinetyFour

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #56 on: January 11, 2016, 11:18:14 AM »
The week was a piece of cake. I don't think much during weekdays anyway...

I am going to try this.  ;-)

bittheory

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #57 on: January 11, 2016, 11:20:00 AM »
The week was a piece of cake. I don't think much during weekdays anyway...

I am going to try this.  ;-)

Haha oops. Meant to say I don't drink much, but that's also true.

rockstache

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #58 on: January 13, 2016, 08:33:11 AM »
I keep having dreams that I drink a beer and break my sober-streak! Then I wake up disappointed in myself... until I realized that it was just a dream and I'm still awesome.

I have dreams like this about smoking. It's been almost fourteen years since I quit cold turkey and yet still have the same dream once or twice a year. Used to be more often in the early days.

In the dream I suddenly realise that I'm holding a cigarette and that have already almost finished a pack. There is this huge sense of disappointment and 'oh no what was I thinking'. Very vivid, usually takes me some time after waking up to convince myself it was just a dream.

Wow. The way you wrote this just really struck me as to how powerful addictions can be. Congratulations on getting free, that is amazing.

therethere

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #59 on: January 13, 2016, 10:04:24 AM »
So just to chime in. I gave in. I could not make it through Friday night or the weekend. Also, my plan of scheduling booze-free activities did not work. We did the activity and then went to a brewery on the way home. This happened both on Saturday and Sunday... Fail! At least I didn't start drinking until 5pm on Saturday when I usually start around noon (or breakfast if I have stouts on hand!)

I'm still calling it a win though because I made it through Mon-Thurs without any booze and I am repeating it this week. I am going M, T, H without this week (brewing meeting this week). I think I only had 5 drinks the entire weekend. After some reflection, I realized this challenge may not be for me. I obsess over money and self improvement all day everyday. To the point of always finding a reason to be unhappy with myself. So I threw out any resolutions and intentions I had for 2016. Instead I'm just taking a step back and being mindful and enjoying the moment. No reason to deprive myself of a beer if I want it as long as I'm enjoying savoring it! I've already cut back a lot over the past year so I'm okay with it. The same goes for self improvement, I deleted all the blogs on my RSS which would email me articles everyday with depressing titles. I think they were just reinforcing happiness at this point rather than guide me to it. Waking up to 5 articles with "Learn to love the job you hate" and titles like that are NOT helpful.

I am more proud of my husband who has been the usual 2-3 beers after work every night and took the whole week off too! He also drastically cut down on the weekend and I can tell he is starting to enjoy the effects of less and pay attention to how much he is consuming instead of drinking mindlessly out of habit. He just kept saying how good he sleeps and how much better he feels. Finally realizing there can be a different normal.

We have definitely saved money though. And I enjoyed actually getting to spend money on doing something for once instead of just having all our discretionary money to go to alcohol. That is a big takeaway and incentive for me to continue to live on the drastically reduced intake.

Sorry that this wasn't the most encouraging post. But alas it was not for me and I'm okay with it. Best of luck for the rest of the month!

mtn

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #60 on: January 13, 2016, 10:06:34 AM »
I keep having dreams that I drink a beer and break my sober-streak! Then I wake up disappointed in myself... until I realized that it was just a dream and I'm still awesome.

I have dreams like this about smoking. It's been almost fourteen years since I quit cold turkey and yet still have the same dream once or twice a year. Used to be more often in the early days.

In the dream I suddenly realise that I'm holding a cigarette and that have already almost finished a pack. There is this huge sense of disappointment and 'oh no what was I thinking'. Very vivid, usually takes me some time after waking up to convince myself it was just a dream.

I had this dream once in college that I cheated on my girlfriend (now wife). Woke up and just "knew" that it had happened, even though I didn't remember it. Replayed the whole last night in my head a few times (no, I wasn't drunk) and finally came to the conclusion that I hadn't. Don't know that I've ever felt that bad.

purplepear

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #61 on: January 13, 2016, 10:25:26 AM »
I keep having dreams that I drink a beer and break my sober-streak! Then I wake up disappointed in myself... until I realized that it was just a dream and I'm still awesome.

I have dreams like this about smoking. It's been almost fourteen years since I quit cold turkey and yet still have the same dream once or twice a year. Used to be more often in the early days.

In the dream I suddenly realise that I'm holding a cigarette and that have already almost finished a pack. There is this huge sense of disappointment and 'oh no what was I thinking'. Very vivid, usually takes me some time after waking up to convince myself it was just a dream.

I had this dream once in college that I cheated on my girlfriend (now wife). Woke up and just "knew" that it had happened, even though I didn't remember it. Replayed the whole last night in my head a few times (no, I wasn't drunk) and finally came to the conclusion that I hadn't. Don't know that I've ever felt that bad.

That's the worst. :( I typically have vivid dreams, but they get weirder when I drink. I've had several experiences where after a night of drinking, I go to sleep and have extremely vivid dreams that I sneak out my window to go out and party some more, and end up hitting-and-running someone or doing something terrible. I wake up full of guilt and feeling awful.

... Then I realize that the "night of drinking" before was just me having some beers with friends and probably playing board games. And I definitely didn't wake up in the middle of the night for a drunken joy ride. And everything is fine.

I've also had the opposite experience where instead of having a dream where I am guilty, I dream that my SO does something awful towards me. And I wake up feeling terribly angry at him... until I realize that it was just a dream and nothing actually happened. Sometimes it takes a little while to shake that irrational feeling though.

Basically, dreams suck sometimes. Don't let them bring you down :)

zephyr911

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #62 on: January 14, 2016, 11:51:11 AM »
So just to chime in. I gave in. I could not make it through Friday night or the weekend. Also, my plan of scheduling booze-free activities did not work. We did the activity and then went to a brewery on the way home. This happened both on Saturday and Sunday... Fail! At least I didn't start drinking until 5pm on Saturday when I usually start around noon (or breakfast if I have stouts on hand!)
Wanna know why I didn't even try to stop entirely? ;)

mxt0133

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #63 on: January 14, 2016, 10:35:10 PM »
Just got through my kids birthday party and if I can make it without any alcohol then I can make it trough pretty much anything now without alcohol.

Stay strong everyone, don't set yourself up for failure this weekend by being stressed out or putting yourself in a situation where you have to use a lot of will power, remember it is limited.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2016, 10:57:57 PM by mxt0133 »

HappierAtHome

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #64 on: January 14, 2016, 10:39:34 PM »
Still going strong. No real temptation so far!

Moustachienne

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #65 on: January 16, 2016, 08:24:41 AM »
Best of luck to everyone on this challenge! 
DH and I went completely dry for a year a few years ago and then added alcohol back in as a treat not a habit.  For us, total abstention was easiest for the first bit because we just had to stick with one decision - 0 drinks.   Once we started drinking again we set up a few rules: don't drink alone;  measure every drink, especially glasses of wine; reach for water/tea/tonic/etc before beer, e.g. when getting home from work; drink the really good stuff - really nice champers at New Years or birthday parties, excellent scotch for Robbie Burns Day, fabulous wine by the glass at a nice restaurant; drink only occasionally and really savour whatever we drink.

This has worked great for us.  We lost weight, saved money, eliminated morning after regret and added a treat to our lives.

Everyone's mileage varies but experimenting with a reduced alcohol life is a great way to kick off the year.

purplepear

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #66 on: January 17, 2016, 07:26:25 AM »
I successfully attended a karaoke party... sober... and rocked it!

Good luck in the next few weeks.

kudy

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #67 on: January 17, 2016, 11:29:42 AM »
So far:
  • nearly zero heartburn - usually I suffer a few times a week
  • combined with close calorie counting, dropping weight like crazy (down about 6-7 lbs since the 1st)
  • weekends seem a bit longer - if I don't have a drink or 2 at 6pm on Saturday, then I'm less prone to sitting on the couch doing nothing for the evening (last night I was installing a few programmable thermostats)

mxt0133

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #68 on: January 17, 2016, 02:34:21 PM »
Watching NFL games this weekend instantly got me thinking about alcohol.  I didn't even see any alcohol advertising, but I guess all the other times I have watched NFL games the bombardment of ads has made my brain associate football with alcohol, similar to parties. 

I'm doing good so far but the next week will be interesting.  I'm glad that the Super Bowl is next month, haha.  Although I was already planning on see how long I can stay dry indefinitely.

Stay strong everyone.

bittheory

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #69 on: January 17, 2016, 08:33:06 PM »
OP here. 2 weeks down. I've had a lot of temptation this past week. My NFL team just won a playoff game, I was at a party today with plenty of free beer and wine and even turned down a champagne toast celebrating an event at my office. Here's what I've noticed this past week:

-Sleep is still great. I sleep really well during the week and like a log during the weekends.
-Haven't noticed much in weight loss, but I feel trimmer. Then again, it's only two weeks.
-The social pressures and internal desire to drink are getting easier and easier to handle.
-I am generally more efficient. This past weekend, I decluttered and in the process listed 5 items on eBay and donated three bags worth of other items.

2 weeks down, 2 to go. Who knows, maybe I won't crack open a beer until after January anyway.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2016, 09:49:17 AM by bittheory »

bittheory

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #70 on: January 25, 2016, 09:52:56 AM »
OP here. 3 weeks down. At this point, it's just getting easy.

At this point I've lost 4 lbs, been more productive and generally feel better and healthier. Same results as earlier weeks, but the weight loss is starting to become apparent now. I've also been walking/running a little more than usual, so that helps.

Also, I've decided I'm going to go through February 7th and enjoy my first drink on the Superbowl. From there, my goal is to only drink during weekends and limit myself to no more than 5 drinks total during the weekend.

I'm also going to try to stay away from the high ABV craft beers and stick to light beer or session IPAs. Until last week I had no idea that calories in beer are mostly determined by ABV.

mtn

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #71 on: January 25, 2016, 10:18:48 AM »
January has been horrid for me (not that I was trying to stop); specifically my birthday was bad (6 drinks) and then my wife's birthday was bad (2 beers with dinner, followed by 2 at the concert, followed by 1.5 pitchers (total) between my FIL and I).

While I never got "drunk", the hangover from not drinking any water after the wife's birthday was bad enough that I think I'm going to try to do a dry February.

Won't do March though. The month of March in Chicago is Gods way of showing people who don't drink what a hangover is like. Might as well drink since I have to go through March anyways.

Philociraptor

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #72 on: January 25, 2016, 10:25:25 AM »
Took 1 meal off of Whole 30 on Saturday, but still dry. We're having our official "fat day" this coming Saturday (1/30) and the wife has requested a bottle of our favorite wine (Radius Red Blend), so our Dry January will end then.

mxt0133

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #73 on: January 25, 2016, 10:58:43 AM »
I have to admit staying dry is easier than I expected.  The habit was the hardest to break vs the craving for alcohol.  Replacing the drinking habit with a new one was essential.  Instead of having a drink at night while watching a movie or reading a book, I go exercise.  Also changing the venues when hanging out with friends has helped.


Public Hermit

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #74 on: January 25, 2016, 12:15:29 PM »
This past weekend was hard to stay dry, but I didn't give in. People say that it is getting easier for them, but for me, it was considerably harder this weekend to not imbibe.

The upside is that I am not as depressed as I normally am this time of year. And I usually get very depressed. I feel like my mood has improved in general. My energy level is also higher when I am awake. I am sleeping more. On weekend nights, it is difficult for me to stay awake past 10pm. Not the case when I am knocking back a few. Best part of all? No hangovers. I am very grumpy when hungover.

This is officially the longest I've gone without alcohol since 2011. I'd like to continue this through February, but realistically, I feel like I could cut down considerably.

rockstache

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #75 on: January 25, 2016, 12:41:47 PM »
We had a relative pass away last week and everyone took a shot for the relative, and I didn't want to refuse. But then I followed it up with a glass of wine because...oh well, I have already blown it! I don't regret the shot, but the wine was unnecessary. I'm getting back on track now.

MoustacheKnittah

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #76 on: January 25, 2016, 01:37:00 PM »
I've done this the last two years and it seemed comparatively easy to this year. This year several groups I am involved in keep having gatherings at breweries, and I cannot imbibe. Tired of root beer & diet coke! I completely gave up eating out (but not drinking out) in November and lost an easy 5 lbs, even though I was drinking a lot more than usual to compensate for my lack of eating indulgences. This month I feel like I am the other way around - eating like crap and not drinking, and I'm about the same weight since Christmas. I guess I know what really affects my weight - although drinking obviously has other affects that make me feel like garbage if I overdo it. ;)

The last two years my dry January ended on Super Bowl Sunday. Doubt I will make it that far this year. I'm in Iowa, and am already planning on a post-caucus drink next Monday in order to celebrate an end to a constant barrage of political ads in the last several months. Gah.

purplepear

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #77 on: January 25, 2016, 05:59:42 PM »
Full disclosure: I quit dry January a week early. My goal was to...
  • Lower my tolerance so that I can have 1-2 drinks only and be perfectly satisfied (check)
  • Get used to turning down free drinks (check)
  • Save money (check)
  • Feel healthier (FAIL)

Other than feeling healthier and losing weight, I accomplished what I wanted to in 3 weeks of soberness. Due to pulling my lower back and getting free food at work, I ate restaurant food way more and worked out way less than anticipated. Not drinking didn't make me feel any healthier.

I had exactly 2 drinks this weekend, and it was great. I didn't want any more than that. So even though I quit a week early, I feel pretty successful. I feel confident that I can cut back to minimal drinking from here on.

mxt0133

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #78 on: January 25, 2016, 08:55:24 PM »
am already planning on a post-caucus drink next Monday in order to celebrate an end to a constant barrage of political ads in the last several months. Gah.

And this is why I plan on extending my dry January indefinitely.  Not that I'm picking on you MoustacheKnittah, but I hate that I have been conditioned to have a beer in order to feel like it is a proper celebration or to hang out and have a good time with friends.  I HATE the feeling of being conditioned, which I was.  Advertising is so much more powerful that people give it credit for, I mean companies don't spend billions of dollars on it because it doesn't work.

It was the main reason I stopped drinking coffee as well, I just felt like I needed it to be productive or to be able to start the day.  If I keep this up i'll be the old grumpy guy at a birthday party that refuses cake because it's mandatory, hahaha.  But seriously I have my own issues with added sugars.

/end rant.

OurTown

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #79 on: January 28, 2016, 02:13:30 PM »
I'm game for doing this in February.  The rare 29 day challenge.

MMMaybe

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #80 on: January 28, 2016, 05:06:55 PM »
Still going here. Will continue into Dry February as well as I am not missing drinking.

One thing that has helped has been making non-alcoholic cocktails. We get so used to having a drink in the evening, so it becomes a habit. So now I make up a drink with fruit juice and tonic or similar and haven't missed the alcohol.

The major thing that I have noticed is how my lack of drinking is sitting so poorly with others. There have been a lot of negative comments from people, almost as if they feel like I am judging them or have signed up to the No Fun Brigade. I am just as social as always and don't comment on what others are drinking, so I don't really understand why it bothers people so much!

MandalayVA

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #81 on: January 28, 2016, 05:45:50 PM »
I haven't had a drink since New Year's.  As the late great Stuart Scott used to say, booyah.  I feel SO much better.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #82 on: January 28, 2016, 08:31:50 PM »
am already planning on a post-caucus drink next Monday in order to celebrate an end to a constant barrage of political ads in the last several months. Gah.

And this is why I plan on extending my dry January indefinitely.  Not that I'm picking on you MoustacheKnittah, but I hate that I have been conditioned to have a beer in order to feel like it is a proper celebration or to hang out and have a good time with friends.  I HATE the feeling of being conditioned, which I was.  Advertising is so much more powerful that people give it credit for, I mean companies don't spend billions of dollars on it because it doesn't work.

It was the main reason I stopped drinking coffee as well, I just felt like I needed it to be productive or to be able to start the day.  If I keep this up i'll be the old grumpy guy at a birthday party that refuses cake because it's mandatory, hahaha.  But seriously I have my own issues with added sugars.

/end rant.

That was a big motivator for me in giving up alcohol and coffee, too. It was much easier than I thought to give them up, although I still have the very occasional cup of coffee.

I will never give up added sugar, though. Back off.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #83 on: January 28, 2016, 08:38:00 PM »
Still going strong.

Philociraptor

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #84 on: January 29, 2016, 07:06:27 AM »
The major thing that I have noticed is how my lack of drinking is sitting so poorly with others. There have been a lot of negative comments from people, almost as if they feel like I am judging them or have signed up to the No Fun Brigade. I am just as social as always and don't comment on what others are drinking, so I don't really understand why it bothers people so much!

It's because your personal choices feel like a direct attack on them due to their personal choices. My wife if always telling me that when people hear that we don't eat bread or pasta they start interrogating her quite aggressively.

mxt0133

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #85 on: January 31, 2016, 01:25:31 AM »
I will never give up added sugar, though. Back off.

Haha, just to be clear I have my issues with added sugar, but I still like sweets.  Especially sweets from childhood, we were somewhat deprived, raised in third world country, no money and all that. 

My issues specifically is before it was pretty obvious what had added sugar, but now it's in things you would never think of, bread, chicken, and ketchup for crying out loud.

As for your the dry January, I went out last night where I normally had a beer or cocktail.  I have to admit the temptation was strong but I went with my tonic and line, which took way my craving and just let me have fun.

Anyone else extending this dry January to February?

MandalayVA

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #86 on: January 31, 2016, 11:47:52 AM »

Anyone else extending this dry January to February?

Me! 

bittheory

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #87 on: February 01, 2016, 12:44:41 PM »
OP here. Well, I did it. I think I'm going to go one more week with my first drink possibly coming this Sunday, but who knows. I really don't feel much *desire* to drink, but there are just certain occasions or meals where it would be nice. Like tonight when a foot of snow piles up on the ground.

Overall, I'm really glad I did a Dry January and was pleased to see just how easy it actually was for me.

Things I noticed:
-The "Just have a drink" or "Are you seriously doing that?" comments only lasted about a week, then people completely stopped asking me about it.
-Saying no to free wine, beer, etc was surprisingly easy. I turned down at least 6 opportunities to have free drinks.
-I definitely slept better, woke up more refreshed and felt healthier and more energetic all-around.
-I lost 4 lbs over the course of the month. It's hard to say whether this is due to cutting out drinking or me working out a little more.
-I saved approx $40 this month not drinking if you count the "happy hours" I went to, buy didn't buy a drink.

Public Hermit

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #88 on: February 01, 2016, 02:32:17 PM »
OP here. Well, I did it. I think I'm going to go one more week with my first drink possibly coming this Sunday, but who knows. I really don't feel much *desire* to drink, but there are just certain occasions or meals where it would be nice. Like tonight when a foot of snow piles up on the ground.

Overall, I'm really glad I did a Dry January and was pleased to see just how easy it actually was for me.

Things I noticed:
-The "Just have a drink" or "Are you seriously doing that?" comments only lasted about a week, then people completely stopped asking me about it.
-Saying no to free wine, beer, etc was surprisingly easy. I turned down at least 6 opportunities to have free drinks.
-I definitely slept better, woke up more refreshed and felt healthier and more energetic all-around.
-I lost 4 lbs over the course of the month. It's hard to say whether this is due to cutting out drinking or me working out a little more.
-I saved approx $40 this month not drinking if you count the "happy hours" I went to, buy didn't buy a drink.

Congrats!

I caved in on Friday. It wasn't a very good week. I only spent $17 on alcohol this month and did not go out at all.

rockstache

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #89 on: February 01, 2016, 03:51:59 PM »
I'm not going to officially avoid alcohol any further, but due to severe calorie cutting, I probably won't go back to drinking as often as I was before the challenge. I didn't miss it much.

sisto

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #90 on: February 02, 2016, 04:14:07 PM »
I managed to stick to my plan of cutting way back. I went complete dry for 2.5 weeks as well. I'm happy with it and will continue it in February.

Irishtache

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #91 on: February 10, 2016, 09:31:41 AM »
Started 18th January and will finish 4 weeks dry on Valentine's Day as we will go out for a meal. It was not difficult, thankfully, and not sure what I will take out of it but will probably cut way back on days I take a drink, i.e. dry Mon-Fri unless an occasion.

gliderpilot567

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #92 on: February 10, 2016, 11:27:09 PM »
Worked good so far. I didn't try to go cold turkey, just cut way back.

As a result, I've now had about 50% of my days the last few weeks when I didn't drink anything. Wahoo! This is an accomplishment for me, after so many years of always drinking 2-3 drinks per day and going to bed with a good buzz.

I still get to drink on occasion, but now it's a special treat. The whiskey bottle I got at Christmas is still half full and I haven't bought any bottles of beer yet this year! (My wife has, and I've snuck a few of hers, but haven't got any yet myself!)

Benefits:
- More productive (and like someone else said, weekends last longer!)
- Waking up is WAY easier now, even after way too little sleep (sometimes I only get 3-4 hours to catch an early flight for work)
- Replaced drinking habit with exercise (lifting weights)... now I am hooked on my new weight lifting habit. Cool!
- I have more money! $10/week for a 12-pack adds up fast.

Really like where this is going. I am beginning to feel like I did in my late teens/early 20s, before I started drinking a lot. Onward, hope we all can keep this up!

OurTown

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Re: Join me in a dry January
« Reply #93 on: February 11, 2016, 01:44:24 PM »
Dry February is booking along at day 11.  I have also reduced coffee (nothing after 730 a.m.).